Chelsea’s Frank Lampard must climb beyond the plateau

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has largely plateaued at Manchester United. Frank Lampard needs to keep climbing up to newer levels with Chelsea.

While tactically Frank Lampard is akin to Jurgen Klopp with splashes of Pep Guardiola and former Chelsea managers, historically he and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer walk the same path. They are both former players thrust into management elsewhere before being tapped up to take the big step up to their old club. Both were tasked with making their respective clubs feel like they once did in their greatest heydays.

Lampard has had the advantage of being able to learn from Solskjaer’s mistakes which more or less began after their Paris Saint Germain triumph. Solskjaer’s United is largely what they will be now. New signings could change thing, but more or less the club has plateaued with Solskjaer at the wheel.

Lampard needs to avoid that same plateau. At the moments Solskjaer dug in (sometimes against his own squad), Lampard needs to push forward. Again, this is the benefit of letting someone else do the experiment blind the first time.

Both managers saw a good start to life with their respective clubs. They simply removed the shackles and reminded the clubs who they used to be. But that is a temporary reprieve, not unlike any other new manager boost. The hard work comes after that when the boost stalls out.

For all intents and purposes, that is about where Chelsea is currently. The form has been degrading ever since the November international break. Fatigue is the main factor, lack of planning time another, and then no new blood only settled the issue further. The club has reached its first plateau with Lampard.

This is the point where many managers falter. Solskjaer did. Rarely has the Norwegian stirred the pot with his line ups or tactics. He will on the big days against the big opponents, but in a passive way as if he does not fully trust his side to compete.

To Lampard’s credit, he has looked for new ways to climb up to the next plateau. He has changed formations, dropped players, and he urges his squad to be protagonists in every game. So long as he keeps trying to move upwards, the club will be okay and will have that possibility to climb.

This is not just a short term process either. Solskjaer’s plateauing did not happen the moment they got past PSG in the Champions League. It was a process that took the rest of that season, the summer, and even into now. With nothing really changing and someone like Mauricio Pochettino on the market, it is hard to see Solskjaer continuing without a breakthrough in sight.

It remains early days for Lampard in his process, especially considering he has the same set of players to work with that he started with. Things will inevitably go stale in those circumstances (see, 2015/2016 and to a lesser extend 2017/2018) but Lampard has looked for ways to keep it fresh.

Lampard is smart enough to know he has to keep trying to make things work until reinforcements can breathe new life into the squad. He has to keep trying to climb upwards off the plateau, even when it feels like he keeps sliding back down on to it.

By all accounts and observation, he can do just that. The fans support him and will continue to do so as long as he has that hunger to improve and succeed. And Lampard is ravenous.